Can someone explain the phenomenon behind using “Wickets, Mini Hurdles,” whatever the heck you wanna call them!! I already know Charlie would say about this (Coach Angie answered this awhile ago)… It’s like everybody thinks their a necessity for developing sprinters/speed
People love to purchase stuff to “make” them fast.
So and so did wickets everyday for x number of years and ran 10 flat.
Or I saw so and so on You Tube so therefor it works.
How does it actually work that seeing edited clips of anyone online training and you think you know what they are doing because you see a video.
We are living in a time of complete orchestrated reality and people actually believe it.
Worse still, this information might be disregarded because it’s old school.
Tell me please the new and improved way for speed training.
Hard work and consistency and building a good relationship with a coach with trust does not sell books or websites so much. It’s boring.
And who wants to see the truth? That too isn’t as sexy as buying and video taping the unwrapping process of new stuff. LOL
Coach!!! I’m gonna need for you to say this louder for the people in the back… Just in case they didn’t hear you clearly!!!
[b]People love to purchase stuff to “make” them fast.
So and so did wickets everyday for x number of years and ran 10 flat.
Or I saw so and so on You Tube so therefor it works.
How does it actually work that seeing edited clips of anyone online training and you think you know what they are doing because you see a video.
We are living in a time of complete orchestrated reality and people actually believe it.
Worse still, this information might be disregarded because it’s old school.
Tell me please the new and improved way for speed training.
Hard work and consistency and building a good relationship with a coach with trust does not sell books or websites so much. It’s boring.
And who wants to see the truth? That too isn’t as sexy as buying and video taping the unwrapping process of new stuff. LOL[/b]
I put the text in bold to mimic yelling. I hope people hear it.
Charlie never yelled as his style of coaching. He loved coaching. He found it invigorating and enjoyable and if and when he was frustrated he expressed frustration but did not take it out on his athletes.
Angella Issajenko or Ben Johnson or Cheryl Thibideau may share their snap shot experiences into how Charlie coached.
Charlie used to tell me it’s common to spend most of your time repeating yourself constantly about those things you know for sure. I’ve found this to be true. On occasion you coach a super student…A person who is as keen about training and learning as you are about coaching.
Athlete’s do not always understand the big picture and therefor are not willing to be patient. “ I want to be fast now and why can’t I be or why can’t that happen?”
Some athletes go with the program and some will fight you every step of the way.
If only coaching were about one magic command each day but it’s not. Nothing worthwhile has ever been like this for me in life. The most interesting and the most gratifying experiences in my life have taught me the most and been about patience.
My personal style of coaching has been to be as open and honest and willing to find ways to teach what I believe I know. I’m prepared to be wrong only on things I may not be sure about. I’ve seen how Charlie operated and he was constantly willing to be wrong. To this day he was not wrong about too much. It was a very annoying fact about him but it was an awesome thing to be apart of. We were both always learning. It’s difficult to learn if you know everything as a coach or an athlete.
I was taught this style and it has been derived from passion. Almost always I get the best from those I work with. I pour my heart and soul into what I do and I try not to look back.
They say most people learn from seeing and doing. 75% or more. Take a look as it might help you learn something about yourself and your coaching. https://velvetchainsaw.com/2012/03/01/looking-learn-why-visuals-so-important/
Coaching can be and is a powerful tool of influence.
Let’s not abuse this power. Thank you for your comments and interest.
On the subject of pointless drills
https://twitter.com/i/status/1058089334060941312
This is probably more useful
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=122jTAEsEOk
I love this drill and how senseless it is. What the heck are they trying to do? I think we could replicate this drill but add into it how to make a roasted chicken with chicken gravy at the same time and while we are at it let’s learn how to make Jamaican style dumplings too? Why not?
Oldbloke you do remember Charlie loved Monty Python? I love that clip not because I loved MP. I actually hated it and thought it was stupid but it grew on me and now watching it makes me chuckle.
Old blokes comment on pointless drills brings to mind a rant I have in my head often these days.
Well meaning coaches I am sure wanting to make their mark? Wanting to make a living? Both? I get it.
Maybe using athletes as our test kitchen is not the way?
Social media and fb and twitter and instagram are really cool no way around that. But when did all of this replace solid ideas and method and replication of the things we know for sure.
Technology has replaced and enhanced and made some things in training more efficient but skipping steps with proper drills that break down the running style aren’t ever going to get old…, unless we find a way to program neurological results of sprinting into the brains of pre selected genetic off spring of former Olympic Champions ( as one example). And if we are going to go there it’s not even difficult to image as our Argentinian neighbors have for years been cloning their top race horses for a few decades now. Horse racing technology as many of you already know has been the source of many track and field specialists. 
When I was 14 I thought MP was juvenile, aged 40 I thought it was funny. Figure that one out.
The drill triggered an MP moment when I realised the athlete was holding the bar across her shoulders, I thought why not a piano …?
By coincidence saw another video of these guys using wickets. Wonder why the wickets were the same distance apart for all athletes, however tall. And how useful it must be to train your motor skills to look down when sprinting to avoid tripping over obstacles. Never had to dodge stuff when running on the track myself but I guess its a useful skill.
I guess we will let the results speak for themselves?
We think so differently when we are 40 years old than when we are 14 and then there are some who don’t think and never will.
Piano, lol
I am dead. 
Guy’s I wont beat a dead horse but I spoke to Chidi Enyia (Formerly of Altis, now just a consultant) about this subject cause I guess I made everyone’s blood pressure rise when I said the drill is useless & will slow you down.
Needless to say when everyone gave me every excuse why they use them & how they work, I answered & told them why they don’t & how all your doing is slowing down your athletes by using “Toys”… Then I got alot of crickets & “But, But, But X company & Y company uses them”
Welp, Chidi called his mentor (Vince Anderson who created the drill) & said I called his drill useless.
Said the original version of the drill worked perfectly but the way alot of folks are using it is screwing up folks… He said I was right, it is screwing up folks the way people are putting their spin on it.
Long story short, he called & he spilled all the tea…
He explained why Altis is losing folks left & right (employees & athlete’s).
How he was/is influenced by Charlie & his work.
How he lived with Dan Pfaff (admittedly doesn’t believe in the wickets, it was all Stu who uses them)
Why Stu called out Charlie & said he was over rated
Coach Ange, Correct me if I’m wrong, but Stu & Charlie were at Canadian National team together & he was basically jealous of Charlie & said he got too much credit
But now he’s taking the blame for alot of athletes leaving (Part of which isn’t his fault)
Said Stu likes a little bit of controversy
Won’t spill all the tea but Chidi is a good dude & we had a great chat about alot of stuff
Yeah at the end of this article Chidi also talks about how LHR has been pounded into the ground to the detriment of many athletes today. It’s comical that places like “Fast University” are promoting such extreme methods to youth athletes. It’s really malpractice. The way Ralph Mann has written his book is also problematic. While he admits that the writing is not a pedagogical guide, the language used to express some of the data can be misleading and can convey to coaches and athletes that they need to try to force certain actions (like trying to pull the foot off the ground prematurely, focus on knee angles, etc). There’s even some well-respected members of this site who are in the “scientific research” field who convey their ideas in ways that can be construed or interpreted in a counterproductive manner. In fact, in some cases I would say that what they are saying is downright fallacious. It’s a shame that things have gotten so complicated in this day and age. Charlie’s wisdom is timeless because he kept things simple and practical.
i think vince anderson is a really great coach, but i dont think toys is why hes great. Hes a motivator and he coaches basics beyond the gadgets which are likely just wasted energy. His athletes run fast, and win. They improve over time. I look at results. He gets them. The toys to me are just a distraction, but it doesnt seem to hurt his people because they do enough real stuff. Stu on the other hand doesnt get results.
It’s never ment to be pedagogical book in sensu stricto nor a key of how to move to next the level.
IMHO Mann’s book should be treated as a guide as to what we should observe as the athletes are developing and progressing to the next level, without forcing them into counterproductive positions.
There has to context in which given positions, velocities, angulations are/ should be occurring. Looking at them without context is nothing but redundant.
That’s what he might tell you.
He also claims he doesn’t instruct or coach athletes, and that it is someone else’s job - I agree with that, he really shouldn’t be coaching people based strictly on data. However, he does instruct athletes, with Seagrave’s drills, which have been thoroughly dismantled multiple times before on this forum over the years.
I have said it a few times, that his book should be read with high caution, and that one really needs to meditate on the data itself rather than his conclusions. Draw your own conclusions from the data, but be sure to base those conclusions on what you’re actually seeing in a practical manner. It is a useful tool, that is all it is. Also keep in mind that this data really only pertains to some aspects of world-class athletes. Athletes who are not world class do not possess the same force production abilities and will be hindered by using such a model.
Ben and many other of the best sprinters of all time never utilized the “shuffle start” or Mann’s “golden positions”. Charlie’s book on technique is superior because it is practical.
There is a time and a place for gadgets if/ when you wish to use them, however it needs to be done with a bit of thought fitting the context of your workout and the whole training program.
Some coaches are successful without gadgets, some are successful with couple, some are successful with a lot of them, some are not😂
Choice of the coach for which he/ she should be held accountable for.
fucking love this story.
sorry, my head has been in the christmas tree collecting the smell of pine…
LOVE IT
Highlander,
where are you?
Where do you live?
I want to come and visit.
photos etc. we can use all that.
Stu who? LOL kidding. Stu seemed like a not so bad guy. maybe he needs… you can fill in the blanks.
I’m in Michigan, along with a few others of Charlie’s guys…
Can’t remember their screen names on here but we were supposed to visit back in the day but a huge winter storm stopped us.
As for Stu, when I met him he was very cordial…
Highlander,
Can you elaborate how people are putting their spin on wickets and how its screwing people up? Personally, I’ve never used wickets, mainly because coaches like Charlie and Dan Pfaff didn’t care for them.